Fred Allard: The art of exhibiting paradoxes

What can you already reveal about your collaboration with the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc?‍

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It will be unveiled during the hotel's reopening next April. It artistically revives the golden age of the Eden Roc and the French Riviera through a unique capsule collection of over twenty works (paintings and sculptures) that will be exhibited, and exclusively sold on site. I was inspired by the hotel's guestbook, which has attracted the who's who of arts and the jet-set since its creation in 1863: Pablo Picasso, Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Sharon Stone... and has been the iconic backdrop for superb shots by Slim Aarons. I have revisited this mythical history that I have captured in canvases, Paper Bags sculptures and Collectibles. For this last series, I molded emblematic objects of the hotel that I then crystallized in transparent resin sculptures. In addition, one of my works will be auctioned for the benefit of AmFAR, Liz Taylor's foundation for the fight against AIDS, during the gala dinner of the Cannes Film Festival. I am honored to collaborate with the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc, whose director, Philippe Perd, was introduced to me by one of my collectors. He came to the gallery and was captivated by my universe.

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© DR

© DR

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‍Is the Riviera a source of inspiration?‍

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Absolutely, but it was mainly the artists of the École de Nice movement, created in the years 1950/1970, who inspired me, because they freed themselves from the art codes of the time by seizing reality to express their views on society. Arman and his inclusions or accumulations of objects, Yves Klein and his deep blue, César and his compressions... I was nourished by their gestures. I also really like the work of poster designers Mimmo Rotella and Jacques Villeglé, and the worlds of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, or Kaws. I am a self-taught artist. I discovered art quite late, even though my father, who was an architect, taught me his culture of beauty and design.‍

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When did you become an artist?‍

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I started my professional career as an entrepreneur in ready-to-wear clothing. I even created a successful site dedicated to women's fashion, called “Vitrines Parisiennes”. There were ups and downs, and at the age of thirty I was already the father of three children. At 40, I wanted to create something that was mine. I questioned my whole life and started a long psychotherapy where I “emptied my bag”. That was the trigger and the start of my artistic career. I wanted to express my emotions and tell myself by creating, by exposing, what I perceived of the world. Initially, I used what I had at hand, giving life to my own obsessions: mounds of fashion magazines and packaging that I overconsumed, including Coca-Cola Light cans and luxury brand shopping bags. I started by making collages of lacerated fashion pages, then I quickly found my identity in the inclusions and compressions of handbags. My creations, called Paper bag, Minaudière, Itbag, Malettes and Roller bag, are assemblies of luxury objects, pop culture and street culture. These elements are then fixed in translucent methacrylate blocks, equipped with original handles (colored python, perfume caps, golden chains, etc.) and various shapes (roller, suitcase, perfume...) and various shapes (roller, suitcase, perfume...). In this way, I capture for eternity these symbols that fascinate me. It could be a Chanel bag that I filled with Coca-Cola Light cans, a Gucci handbag stuffed with Chupa Chups lollipops, an iconic basketball, Formula 1 shuttlecocks, video game controllers, or even a Nike Air Jordan sneaker containing Coco Chanel fragrances. In each work, I magnify the consumer society, in which I myself am an actor, and the duality of a paradoxical world that can live in harmony. The first to believe in me and who got me started were Nicole Rubi, who exhibited my works in her restaurant “La Petite maison” in Nice, and the gallery owner from Nice Maud Barral, who allowed me to organize my first exhibition dedicated to women. Among the highlights of my artistic career, I remember my first exhibition in 2019 in New York, in the Soho district of Manhattan. This event, which covered 3,000 m² and featured more than 80 pieces, was dedicated to the fashion Kaiser, Karl Lagerfeld. The same year, I had the honor of setting up my gallery at Lutétia in Paris, the most prestigious hotel on the Left Bank.‍

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© DR

© DR

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‍What do your “Empty your bag” works, these crystal resin sculptures in the shape of a cabin suitcase, tell us?‍

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They are directly inspired by my long period of questioning. My sculptures Empty your bag are particularly symbolic, combining introspective gestures and show-offs, a major paradox in today's society. I invite my clients to cast symbolic and personal, very intimate objects into transparent crystal resin to create a tailor-made work that reveals, whereas, by convention, the contents of a bag are private. The Monegasque F1 driver Charles Leclerc, the footballers Neymar and Raphaël Varane, the world motorcycle champion from Nice Fabio Quartararo, or the alpine skier Alexis Pinturault, each “emptied their bags”, and created their exclusive work by choosing several intimate objects that tell about their lives. As a sports enthusiast, it has been a rewarding experience to work with athletes who share the values of self-improvement and effort that I promote. For example, Neymar had chosen his cleats, his first headphones in the colors of Brazil and his 2016 Olympic medal, while Charles Leclerc had opted for the pair of scissors from his hairdresser mother and the pen of his father with which he signed his contract at Ferrari.

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‍You produce your works locally and work as a family. Why did you choose to set up your gallery in Nice?‍

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It was my dream to open my gallery in Nice, and I deeply believe in its location, which for me is the most beautiful avenue on the Côte d'Azur. We are surrounded by the most beautiful hotel addresses and fashion brands in the world that greatly inspire my creations. We imagined the gallery with my daughter Estelle, director of the gallery, with the help of the architect France Bittel, from the Bleu Gris firm, as an immersive mansion. I invite you to my home, among my works, staged in an ultra-designer decoration, and a library of books and objects that surround me on a daily basis. On the first floor, more intimate, I welcome collectors and those who would like to empty their bags! In the basement, on 130 m²², we are in the process of reproducing my workshop in Saint-Laurent-du-Var where I make my works, in order to allow customers to immerse themselves in my universe. All my works are made less than 10 km from the gallery, in the workshop run by my son Raphaël, whom I trained in my manufacturing technique, the result of years of experimentation. He is even better than me now! In all, we are about ten collaborators, including my son-in-law and my daughter-in-law, and very close friends. Maintaining this privacy is important to me, and I am the happiest working with my children on a daily basis. There is a lot of instinct, trust, generosity and love in this adventure that we build together, even if it is sometimes incredible. I am the privileged spectator of their evolution, and that is priceless for a father!‍

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What is your distribution network today?‍

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I am lucky to be sold in thirty galleries around the world, in the United States in New York, in Miami, in Las Vegas, in Aspen, in Europe, in Switzerland, in Belgium, in Italy, in Greece, but also in the Middle East. We produce unique pieces that are not subcontracted, handmade in limited quantities, which sell between 5,000 and 100,000 euros. I am an artist, but I have the soul of an entrepreneur, so we think a lot about our business strategy. We have set up drops of limited collections at more accessible prices (between 300 and 1,500 euros for a numbered digigraphy) several times a year, in order to democratize my work, because I refuse the idea of elitism in art. The next drop will take place this month on my site https://fred-allard.com ! Stay connected! Thanks to the gallery, we also organize events every month, such as private collectors' dinners. On the occasion of the creation of my monumental sculpture The Kaiser in collaboration with Jean-Roch, where I had molded a Bearbrick with the effigy of Karl Lagerfeld validated by himself in 2018, we had, for example, organized an exclusive evening at the gallery, energized by the famous Riviera DJ Mozart from the Limelight collective, to celebrate the late emperor of fashion but also art, music, and the night world. My next dream? Empty the bag of the city of Nice in a monumental version! Notice to readers...

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Cover: Fred Allard © DR